After a terrible first week, Texas first baseman Chris Davis was one of the hot topics of concern in fantasy baseball circles. My colleague Matt Snyder recently tried to put those fears to rest in Slump or Suck, and right on cue, Davis went ahead and smashed them with his bat.
Davis went six games without showing any signs of power, but he's now blasted two shots over his last two games. Thanks, Baltimore pitching! Of course, the strikeout count is now at 14 for the season and the average sits at an unsightly .167, though we can be happy with Ryan Howard Light. For the season, you can expect an average somewhere around .250-.270 along with the 30 bombs.
The important lesson to be learned with Davis' quick slump-buster, and it's one that is repeated ad nauseam, is that 22 at-bats does not make a season. Unless your name is Lastings Milledge, apparently ...
Bits from the Box Scores:
• Milledge, a preseason darling and one of the sleeper 20-20 candidates, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse before the games even began. It comes as a surprise to many of us, but as Aaron Gleeman pointed out, you can't teach work ethic at this stage. Milledge clearly has some more growing (up) to do. Elijah Dukes takes over at center field for the Nationals and becomes worth grabbing again in deeper leagues. Austin Kearns will also get more at-bats.
• Big news on the injury front for two starters: Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter will be "out for a while," according to manager Tony La Russa, after Carpenter sustained a left rib cage strain. Daisuke Matsuzaka left his start in Oakland after one inning due to "arm fatigue." The curious thing about Dice-K's status is he said he felt fine. While Boston fans start an uproar over his participation in the World Baseball Classic, I'd buy low on Dice-K, and you should head to the wire and stash Clay Buchholz Justin Masterson in case this requires a DL stint (Update / 2:50pm ET: Dice-K has been placed on the 15-day DL). As for Carpenter ... this guy just can't catch a break. The injury isn't elbow-related, but his value takes a hit regardless. Prospect P.J. Walters will get time in the rotation (shout-out to St. Louis scout Sig Mejdal!)
• Xavier Nady left Tuesday's game with a "sharp pain" in his right elbow. Nick Swisher, on the other hand, batted cleanup and jacked his fourth homer of the year. The value meter continues to tilt further in Swisher's direction. He's still available in 25 percent of Yahoo! leagues -- get on that.
• For some good news, Ichiro gets activated from the disabled list Wednesday. Joe Mauer is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. And A.J. Burnett is not only still healthy, he struck out nine Rays for his second victory of the season. Hold, don't sell, on Burnett.
• Ricky Romero put up another fine start with only two earned runs allowed over eight innings. He threw 70 of his 108 pitches for strikes with no walks, so he should be grabbed in all deep mixed leagues at this point. I'd be cautious with matchups against better offensive teams than the Twins, and especially once the league has observed his first go-around, but he'll be good to spot start otherwise.• Willy Taveras swiped two bags against the Brewers to give him three total in the early going. Very quietly, Denard Span also stole his third base. Bank on 20 from Minnesota's leadoff hitter, and you may even get 25-30 if he continues to get the green light all season.
• As if you needed more evidence the Seattle closer situation may be FUBARed ... David Aardsma pitched the eighth and Brandon Morrow took the ninth against the Angels in a non-save situation. I'd rather have Aardsma for the season, but you can't count on either for consistent saves.
• Marlins starter Chris Volstad, who Knox gushed about after he saw him at Spring Training, allowed three hits over seven sparkling innings in a victory against the Braves. Surprisingly, he's available in about 40 percent of leagues. In that same game, Javier Vazquez gave up three runs, but at least he struck out 12 (!) and only walked one. You can bet Javy will finish as one of the league leaders in strikeouts, even if he won't give you a sparkling ERA to match.
• After a four-walk showing against the Reds, it's clear that Manny Parra is teetering on the brink of dump status in mixed leagues. If he can't exhibit more control over his next two starts, I'd make the switch to another starter with less volatility. Kyle Davies, who gave the Royals a second solid start with a win over the Tribe, could be a decent backup plan if Volstad isn't available.
• Orioles center fielder Adam Jones hit his first homer of the year against the Rangers and drove in three. He may not satiate you in the speed department, but more good stuff is on the way from his bat.Down on the Farm: Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson, just biding his time, struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings. Mets first base prospect Mike Carp hit his first homer of the year in Triple-A; six of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases. He's someone to keep an eye on in keeper leagues.
Lineup Lock Time: The White Sox and Tigers at 1:05pm ET. Colorado/Chicago, St. Louis/Arizona, Cleveland/Kansas City and Boston/Oakland are the other early games.
Playing the Splits: Brandon Inge is batting .227 with one homer in 44 at-bats vs. Jose Contreras. Placido Polanco is batting .389 in 36 at-bats against him. Jason Giambi is batting .061 in 33 at-bats vs. Tim Wakefield. Kenji Johjima is hitting .370 in 27 at-bats vs. Jered Weaver. Vlad Guerrero is hitting .423 with three homers in 26 at-bats vs. Jarrod Washburn.
Gut Feelings: Willy Taveras and Denard Span stay hot on the basepaths. Jose Reyes snaps his speed slump vs. the Padres. Houston hitters tee off against Ross Ohlendorf. The late game features a lot of K's from Matt Cain and Clayton Kershaw.
Thursday's Ace in the Hole: Braves rookie Kenshin Kawakami (1-0, 4.50 ERA) gets the Marlins at home on Thursday. And for deep leaguers, Seattle lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-0, 0.00 ERA) faces the Angels at home.
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